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NEW TELEPHONES

CUT OVER TO AUTOMATIC TELEPHONES

Opening of The Exchange SATURDAY NIGHTS CEREMONY Cut-Ova* Successfully Aclueved At midnight on Saturday the cut-over from the muual to the Automatic telephone system in Christchurch was made. The mechanical process took only about half an hour, when thirteen thousand subscribers wore switched over to a service as efficient as any in the world. The work ha» been proceeding for some months, and the change was made without hitch. Before the actual cut-orer an elaborate ceremony to celebrate the occasion was held in the Art Gallery. There, three hundred and fifty people were entertained as guests of the Postmaster-General. Mrs Donald, wife of the Minister, dialled the first official call to the exchange, and the Postmaster-General and Mr Archer had the first official conversation. The new exchange in Hereford street, the scene of almost continuous activity for months became a hive of industry as midnight drew near. A score of workmen under Mr A. J. Hodges, chief mechanician, stood at their posts ready to act on a given signal. The Hon. Mr Donald, Mrs Donald, members of Parliament, and other interested observers were standing by, eager to see what was going to happen. As midnight struck there was a loud clang and the death-knell of the manual exchange bad been sounded by the Postmaster-General. The thin wooden lathes which insulated the automatic exchange from the system were pulled away, while, on the other side, men were busy disconnecting the wires leading to the old exchange. The most important numbers, such as Police, Hospital, and Fire Brigade, were thrown into the circuit first, and within a minute after midnight a faint buzzing indicated that calls were being given and received over the automatics. The first toll call was put through at 12.9 a.m. from Timaru to Wairoa. The men worked quickly, and by about half-past twelve the last lathe had been pulled away, the last spring released, and the cut-over was mechanically complete. Nearby was the wire chief's desk, where many of the lines were tested on being thrown into the circuit, and where minor irregularities consequent on the cut-over were attended to. One lady could get no reply from her friend, and a could not get the taxi stand on the telephone and had been forced to walk, but these and other minor disorders were soon set right. Profiting by past experience, the engineers had rigged up a hospital service. Here subscribers who are inifawiiiar with the working of the new system will be helped. It is easy for the operators at the exchange to see when a user is in difficulty or when his telephone is out of order, and in these cases the subscribers will be put through to their number on the system. Such measures are only temporary until practice brings proficiency. As the strips of wood with their "tooth-picks'* were thrown on the floor they were eagerly snapped up by the bystanders who were anxious to get some souvenir of the occasion. In the old exchange all was quiet. As the different lines were thrown into the automatic circuit, the operators, knowing their services were no longer required, discarded their ear-phones, sighed, and went home. Out in the street the engineering staff of the Department was busy installing the automatics in the telephone boxes, and this work continued throughout the night. The cut-over was not a spectacular operation, but a very efficient one. From it came the satisfaction of work well done, and the officials of the Department knew that they had supplied the needs of 13,000 subscribers and had fulfilled a request of fifteen years' standing.

A CELEBRATION.

MINISTER'S PROMISE fulfilled. CEREMONY AT ART GALLERY. To mark th« importance of the occasion •one three hundred and fifty citizen* aaaembled at a aoeial evening at the Art Gallery as gueata of the Postmaster-Gen-eral (the Hon. Mr Donald), Mrs Donald, the Mayor (Mr J. K. Archer), and Mrs Archer. Mr Norton Francis (president of the Canterbury Chamber of Commerce) and Miaa Norton Francis, Mr J. A. Flesher (president of the Canterbury Progrear League), Mr G. McNamara (Secretary to the Post and Telegraph Department), Canterbury members of Parliament, and the heads of Government Departments were among thoac present. The Postmaster-General was congratulated for having carried out his promise to provide automatic telephones for Chriatchureh. In March last he told a deputation of Chriatchureh people that he would try to see that the cut-over took place in September, and the function celebrated the fulfilment of this promise. The Hon. Mr Donald presided. Parliamentary Government. The Mayor proposed "Parliament." "I think you will agree," lie said, "that Party government is under a cloud at present. We find people writing and talking mueh about its evils. 1 am not going to say what kind of people they are—probably smart persons who have not yet cut their wisdom teeth. We hear Parliament called a talking shop where the politicals spend days and eights talking instead of getting on with the business of the country. I must confess that we all get annoyed sometimes with the great amount of talking and the small amount of work. But this outcry against Parliament is not new; it haa cropped up at various times in our history. I recall the remarks made by Macaulay in his o«sa- on Milton. Milton 'a observation on the critics of Parliamentary Government was that they rarely Joined issue on the graat pouts la question, but merely dabbled In incidentals. This being so, be said,

it was not necessary to answer the critics. The enre for freedom was more freedom, not less- Similarly, the eure for Parliamentary government was more Parliamentary government, not less.

'lt has been said," continued hi* Worship, "that a little education is a dangerous thing. Would anyone deny that the remedy for this is not the abolition of education, but the extension of itf At least we can say that Parliamentary Government at its very worst is better than any other system at its best. If I dared I would mention Bussia on the one hand and Italy on tfee other. From the point of view of government I would tea times rather be a citizen of Bussia than of Italy. "So far as democracy is concerned Parliamentary government there has never yet had a fair trial. Even in the older countries Parliamentary government is only an apology for the real thing. At the last General Election in Britain we saw millions of adult citizens exercising the franchise for the first time. We cannot have this system complete till everyone exercises the franchise. In Kcw Zealand wo have men only in our Parliament and men as a rule, are muddlers. Our Parliamentary system will not function fully till we get women into Parliament. We must give it a real chance before it will be a real success. It is safe to say, however, that it is impossible to eradicate Parties from our British system. Party Government is in onr blood, and has been bought at a great price. "I don't know what I ought to say about the present Parliament," added Archer. "It is a glorious combination of minorities. N' 0 Party is able to elaim a majority. If the United Party went out, and the Keforui Party toolc office, it would still be a minority Government, and if the best of all three Parties, the Labour Party came into power, then it would still' be a minority Government. fHear! Hear!) I should like to see Parliament become more and de!<?gate assembly. We do not send our members there to rule us, but to i-arrv out our desires in selfgovernment. When Parliament seizes that tact we will hear less and less of criticism of our present system " Messrs R. W. Hawke, M.P., D.'Jones, M.P., and E. J. Howard, M.P., replied. Mr Hawke said he wanted to thank the Mayor for the good advice he had given them. Alluding to his remark that the present Parliament was a minority one, the speaker reminded hit Worship that, when there was « divi-

Mr D. Jones Joins lame.

sion taking place, there were only two lobbies to into, not three, so that the law of the "untry via a majority law, even if there were fifteen Parties id the House. Hia association with Parliament had been a short one, bat he was sore the House was in earnest about placing good laws on the Statute Book. When the Major had been talking about Italy and Bussia, he (Mr Hawke) had been thinking that he had visited those countries not long since, and when he thought of New Zealand, with its happy, educated, contented people then he was proud of his native land. Britain had given as a wonderful lead in social and religions life. He could assure them that in their own Parliament, now the talk was over, they would see some real genuine business done. He had to thank the Hon. Mr Donald for keeping his promise and for switching over the telephones in the month in which he had promised. "You were a patient people," continued Mr Hawke, "and the Government, realising this, tested your patience to its limits. Tou have also been a long-suffering people over that raihmy, bnt we are not going to keep you waiting any longer, and intend to give you a dear run to Pic ton." (Applause.)

Mr Jones asked the Minister that his Department should be > little more generous in permitting the ate of wireless. If it were not for that great monopoly, the Post and Telegraph Department, he thought that wonderful invention we had come upon would be made much more use of. "I ean congratulate the Mayor," he continued, ••that he is neither in Buasia nor in Italy, but in glorious New Zealand, and I must congratulate him on the sense be has shown in coming amongst us. Also I must say that our Government is a good government in spite of Mr Archer. The Parliament of New Zealand has had some very great men in the past, and Has led the way in many important developments. As to Mr Archer's reference to women in Parliament, I would remind him that we were the first country in the world to give them the vote, if not to get them into Parliament. I very rarely meet a woman who wants to see her sex in Parliament, bnt they will be there before long, for they have a plaee to fill. Again I must join issue with the Mayor. 1 don't ever want to go to Parliament as a delegate. In the House I regard myself not so much a representative of Mid-Canterbury but as a representative of the people legislating for the common good. Very heavy demands are imposed by you on your M.P.'a before they go to offiee, but when they get there and give you the laws then you ery out when we ask you to foot the bilL I can assure the honourable Minister that the troubles > of his Gove-sment will only begin when people begin to pay the annual taxation bills. The publie in New Zealand demand too mueh from Parliament and too little from themselves. They ask for in government, bnt neglect to practise that economy themselves, and it is difficult for Parliament to control its expenditure in the faee of extravagance by the people. Let me assure you that Parliament has nothing to give j it gives back only what it takes from vou, ten the cost of administration. What we want is the spirit of reliance in the people themselves. When you get that you will get the Government yon deserve, and if you have not a good one at present don't blame me!" (Laughter.) Mr Howard thanked Parliament for at last remembering that there was such a place as Christchurch, and for giving the automatic switches. Personalty he had a feeling of Tegret that we were dispensing with those sweet girls whose voices were heard at the other end of the wires, and who had sometimes made them forget themselves. He hoped they would be absorbed so as not to throw them on the unemployment market. Moreover, they should do aU possible for the young men and young women so as not to hamper development in the marvellous science of wireless. A Long Wait. The toast of "The PostmasterGeneral" was sponsored by Mr Norton Francis, president of the Canterbury Chamber of Commerce. He said be was glad of the opportunity to thank the Minister on behalf of the Chamber, and those other thirty-one Canterbury public bodies which formed a deputation to him last March, when the Minister had promised to give them automatic telephones by September. He had kept his promise. As far back as 1910 the Department had thought that Christchurch should have an automatic telephone service, but it was only fourteen years later that it had got it. Both subscribers and staff had been compelled to suffer great inconvenience. The Chamber of Commerce was glad to know that the cut-over would not cause any hardship to the telephone operators, and he was sure that anything that had Sne wrong in the past was not their alt. They were thankf. for the great help that the officers of the Department had at all times rendered them. He hoped for great things from the carrier system, and if the Department eould see its way dear to reduce the charges they would be pleased. His body and the Progress League wanted to work tof ether to show the people of New ealand what a beautiful country they had and to induce them to travel through it before going abroad. He also wanted to congratulate Auckland on electing such an energetic business man as the Minister to Parliament. The Chamber of Commerce was a strong advocate for less Government in business and more business in Government. Mr Donald'u Reply. The Hon. Mr Donald, who, on rising to reply, was received with applause, described himself as not a politician but as a man who eould put the business through. He thanked them all for their good wishes on behalf of himself and Mrs Donald. He knew what the people of Christchurch had had to put up with in their telephones, and he thought that it would not be proper to say g<- t-bye to the old manual system without according it musical honours. He hoped, however, that by Sunday they would oe so satisfied with the new system that thev would forget all about the deficiencies of the old. He was especially pleased that he had been able to fulfil his promise, and he was deeply grat ful to his officers for making-this possible. Mr A. Gibbs was the Chief Telegraph Engineer, while Mr Fairburn and Mr D. E. Parton were in charge of the local engineering branch. Mr C. 3. Plank was the gentleman who had outlined the scheme, and Mr R. T. C. Roberts the one who had put the mechanism together, aided by some very able assistants. Tributes to the Staff. The exchange staff had been provided for Those who eould not be absorbed in Christchurch were being transferred to other places, and in nearly every ease the transfer has given satisfaction.

There were fourteen girls who were notified when they were taken on only a short time ago that the position 'would Hot be a ermanent one, and these had not been placed in employment. The staff in the past had done their work well and had refrained from retaliating to the numerous complaints that had been made because they knew that it was the fault of the machinery. He was satisfied that they had muehreason to be proud of the telephone service in this Dominion. It was equal to anything in the world, and for thil tto most thank the Department s e&pable officers. When taking up the position of Postmaster-General he had been surprised to" find men of such a ealibre in the Telegraph Department, while the men lower down were just as able bb the men at the top. Beasona for Delay. Mr Donald proceeded to explain the reason for the delay i® the introduction of the' automatic system to Christchurch. Negotiation* to this end, he said, had been proceeding as far back as 1914, and in 1915 a tender had been accepted. But war intervened, and the building programme was postponed. Following the war an unprecedented demand for telephone equipment arose all over the world, and subsequently the Department found that the demand for telephones in Christehureh had ontgrown the previous plans. Other reasons, which need not d« stated, made it impossible to carry out the scheme till now. But Christehureh had profited by the delay, for the equipment was better than that installed at Auckland, Wellington, and Dunedin. He would predict that Christehureh, like _ other centres, would need more equipment almost immediately, and provision had been made for 2000 additional telephones. fie believed that before long another 2000 would be wanted. When the cut-over took place 50 per cent, of the telephones in New Zealand would be on the automatic system. Referring to wireless, the Minister stated that his officers were alive to developments and knew that if they Jut a sound business proposition in ront of him he would accept it. New Zealand would not lag behind. Some reference had been made to toll rates. If they were too high they woold be reduced in the course of time, because service was the thing they wanted to render above all. The Department was not out to make a big profit, and excess profits would be returned to the people in a reduction of rates. But before that could be done he wanted to see the staff catered -for. They were efficient, and he wanted to see them well served and to be kept satisfied. It might be that, before long, the Government of this country would be able to do something for the servants of the Post and Telegraph Department. Department's Activities. Mr J. A. Flesher, president of the Canterbury Progress League, proposed the toast of "The Post and Telegraph Department.'* He congratulated the Department and the Minister on the consummation of the work which had been in progress for the past fourteen years. The Post and Telegraph Department was a big one. Its activities ranged from selling a half-penny stamp to registering a motor-car, taking a Christmas pudding home and banking the people's earnings in the Savings Bank, which was one of the finest institutions we had. The Department had a set of offieers of which they might well be proud. It was worth _ noting that the first telegraph liu o New Zealand was constructed in_ Christchurch, the first railway in New Zealand built in Canterbury, and the first tauwsl made there, only when there w »re only a handful of people in the settlement, in the numoer of telephones per head of population 3*ew;

Promise of Fourteen Years Ago Fulfilled

Zealand stood third in the 'world. America had fifteen per hundred of population, Canada twelve per hundred, J and New Zealand nearly ten per hundred, so we were ahead of both Britain i and Australia. The number of subscribers in Christchurch to-day was about 13,000. He thought that the Department could still reduce its charges and show a handsome profit. 120,000 Calls s Day. "Pew of you realise the work put in during the last few months so that you should have your telephones on time," said Mr G. McNamara, secretary of the Department, who replied. "There will be a general feeling of relief when the last plug is palled out and the cat-over is an established fact. The engineering branch has been working at a feverish pace, urged on by the Minister, and a sense of the needs of the community, I would remark that when the first telephone exchange was opened in Christchurch there were twenty-seven subscribers and the engineer had confidence enough to antici- 1 .: pate a rise to a hundred in a short period." Referring to telephone charges, Mr McNamara said it would be an excellent idea to adopt the system he had lately seen in other countries. The subscriber could get his telephone for £5 a year, but he was charged 2d for every call thereafter. With 120,000 calls a day going through the Christchurch Exchange they could imagine what a good thing that would be for the Department. Memento of Occasion. As a memento of the occasion, Mr E. H. Mclnnes, representative of the Standard Telephones (Australasia), Ltd., contractor for the equipment, presented the Postmaster-General with a silver dial. New Zealand, he said, was not only third in the number of telephones per head of population, but also third in the amount of talking done over these telephones. The service given by any system depended upon the calibre of the men who looked after it. The exchanges in Christchurch were the twenty-second and twenty-third that his firm had brought into operation in New Zealand, and all had given excellent service. "1 am very grateful for the memento," said the Postmaster-General in acknowledging the gift. "This wasthe first political promise that 4 made on assuming office and I was keen that it would be fulfilled. I might say that I hope every promise I make will be fulfilled." The official opening call to the new automatic exchange was then dialled by Mrs J. B. Donald, wife of the Post-master-General, by a telephone in the Art Gallery. The Mayor, at the other end of the room, was called up and the conversation between him and the Post-master-General ensued. "I thank you Mr Mayor," said Mr Donald over the wire, "and I am very pleased to inform yon that the new system is now officially open. 1 hope you will have no trouble and that it will give 100 per cent, service from the start." The Mayor replied: "I thank you Mr Donald, and reciprocate your wishes. Some of us have already had automatic tele phones in our offices and have been able to call up some of the people we have wanted, bat now it will be universal." Cheers were then given for the Post-' master-General.

The Mayor was then put into touch with the Mayor of Wellington, Mr G. A. Troop, and the two had a short conversation, during; which Mr Troup, on behalf of the city of Wellington, eon gratulated Christchurch on the cotover. An original ditty, entitled "The Cut-Over" was then sung by members of the Post and Telegraph staff. The gathering then adjourned to see the real cut-over take place.

FIRST DAY OF WORKING.

THE NEW TELEPHONES.

MANY STRANGE QUERIES.

"What is the hyphen fort" was the query of a lady subscriber to the staff of the Telegraph Department yesterday morning after she had made several unsuccessful attempts to establish automatic telephone communication with a friend. This subscriber's mind seemed to run on the lines of arithmetic, for she asked if a necessity for subtraction or addition was indicated, to secure the grand total of the number required f The mysterious hyphen referred to appears in the new telephone directory, and divides the numbers into two groups, its purpose being to make memorisation of the number easy. These, and other misunderstandings, said Mr A. Gibbs, Chief Telegraph Engineer, to a representative of The Prm~ whom he conducted over the automatic exchange yesterday, are the cause of any blockage 01 delays that always occur at the inauguration of a new system. The dial oa the telephone is really Che key to the exchange, and on its proper manipulation depends the success or otherwise of the call.

1 '.'lt looks as if the people of Christchurch have used very commendable discretion in the first day's working of the new system," said Mr Gibbs. "A great many subscribers, of course, have put through calls for the novelty of the thing, but on the whole there has been a remarkable absence of trouble of any sort." "My house telephone has been going all day," said the Chief Postmaster, Mr H P. Donald, adding that a good many of the calls had been from people merely desiring a try-out of the new instrument. Considerably puzzled was another subscriber who stated, plaintively, that she could manage quite well as long as all the numbers were different, but if all the figures were the same her efforts were confounded as she could not get all her fingers into the one hole on the dial. Her design, apparently, was to place all four fingers and thumb into the dial holes and imitate the playing of a chord on a piano! Others wanted to know if the correct method was to add up all the numbers and dial tbe sum total, and some could not bring themselves to dispense with their old directories. The latter were endeavouring to put through old numbers, and in each case there was a hold-up of legiti mate traffic. Several other instances of inability to operate the machines were recounted, but all were due simply to subscribers not having perused the instructions. In spite of all these small mistakes, which were, after all, only in isolated cases, yesterday's working was eminently successful, and all who were uncertain of what to do were soon detected, and assisted by the telephone

staff who, at the same time, delivered a short lesson as to the correct method of operation. The Departmental officials all stress the fact that any trouble is due, in • the main, to imperfect dialling. "It is impossible for us to read the minds of callers,'' they say, '' as the instruments act only upon the actual Impulses they receive. If people use the dial wrongly, then chaos is the result. When a call is put through th« caller hears a clicking which indicates that the bel] of the called party is ringing. Ail that is then required is tot the latter to pick up his receiver and speak. If a subscriber is already engaged with someone else a "busy tone" is heard, a tone that can be likened best of all to the sound of a quacking duck. In fact, "quack, quack" is the term appjied to the sound by the officials. In this case the subscriber ean dial again after a reasonable time. After working from 11 o'clock on Saturday- night, gangs of telephone men, rushing to and fro in cars, installed practically the last of the Btreet slot telephones by noon yesterday. The automatic system has been found a great success with street boxes in other centres, and it is expected that a great improvement will be experienced in Christchurch. One of the most interesting points is that a tost penny through getting a wrong number is almost impossible. One simply dials the number and the called party answers. If it is a correct call the caller drops his penny in and proceeds with his conversation. If the number is wrong, through a mistake or fumbled dialling, the caller can hang up his receiver and pat through the correct number, then inserting his penny as soon as communication has been established. There are approximately 120 slot boxes in and anund the City, and it took several gangs, working at high pressure, to make the change over by noon. For some years there has been a partial installation in Cbristcbursh of the automatic system, 2300 tines helngj part ly in the district telegraph building, partly in the Sydenham Post Office and partly at St. Albans. This apparatus will now be dismantled and used elsewhere.

Several Departmental officers stated their gratification yesterday at the success of the cut-over, for yesterday was an unusually busy day, thousands of calls coming through from just after midnight until late last night, being a type of telephonic "first-footing." A start will be made to-day in dismantling the old manual, a work that will occupy some weeks.

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Permanent link to this item

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19290916.2.17

Bibliographic details

Press, Volume LXV, Issue 19725, 16 September 1929, Page 4

Word Count
4,677

NEW TELEPHONES Press, Volume LXV, Issue 19725, 16 September 1929, Page 4

NEW TELEPHONES Press, Volume LXV, Issue 19725, 16 September 1929, Page 4